Initiate and guide within the International Nath Order.
The 2026 INO Mela was six full days of communion, connection, and exaltation at Kula Farms in northern Florida.
Opening the Week
A week before the Mela began, a new Dhuni was opened on the full moon of May 1. A nearby wildfire had been raging the week prior, inundating the farm with smoke. It cleared, as if according to plan. Then, as a lead-in to the gathering, our newest member, Visarganath, was initiated at the Dhuni the night before the Mela, sending reverberations of this momentous occasion rippling into the week ahead.
The first two days brought much-needed rain as the group eased into cohesion with meditation and ritual indoors. The rain cleared the air and tamped the wildfire down further. By day three the weather was sunny, clear, and quite warm again. The newly inaugurated Dhuni then beckoned us outdoors for the next two nights.
Delicious, ample meals prepared by Soma Devi kept everyone well nourished, and abundant treats made by our hostess, Tara, were heartily enjoyed. Downtime gave way to walks around the property, rest, massage, and other therapies offered by our talented family of tantrikas. Joy and bliss were the reigning sentiments after the nightly rituals.
Sri Vijayanath led discussions each day, keeping important points and practical methods in view, along with check-ins and individual chats. These also prepared the group for a Virtual Kula “Mela Cast” on day five.
The Mela Cast
After lunch on the fifth day, we joined Virtual Kula attendees on a live call with INO Imperator Magus Mundi, Sri Kapilnath. On screen, Sri Kapilnath graciously shared a bit about himself and how he came to find his guru, our founder, Sri Gurudev Mahendranath. His narrative confirmed that this enchanted path can lead into the very workings of the cosmos and, thereby, to the truth about ourselves. He called this “going into the unknown,” and he encouraged us to be “completely fearless” in doing so.
Following Sri Kapilnathji’s address, a further experience had been arranged. Pre-set by Sri Kapilnath and Sri Vijayanath, it was a “surprise” invocation: a special food offering, and sympathetic magick. A curious engagement, no doubt, and one that left some with further questions and perspectives for their THINK process.
Closing the Week
With further efforts and exaltations, the sixth day brought the ritual work to a close: summary, recreation, a final Dhuni, festive frolic, and at last, repose. All members of the group voted to sit a final morning meditation on the seventh day before breakfast, goodbyes, and packing out.
Creation of Kumarika Dhuni
The Dhuni was named Kumarika. The name holds Kumari, the young maiden, and Bhairavi, the dissolving force — one polarity, not two goddesses set side by side.
On this land, stewarded by our affable hostess Tara and surrounded by lush foliage behind a cow paddock, the ground is once again blessed by the initiates of the Nath Kula Kaula. The inauguration of a new Nath Dhuni is a notable event. On the full moon of May 1, Sri Vijayanath, Tara, and Soma Devi labored lovingly for this purpose.
A diameter measurement of the former Dhuni outer circle — Kali Dhuni was decommissioned a couple of years back —was taken and transcribed just south of the old ritual site. The two outer circumferences overlap, making a vesica piscis, the almond shape familiar to students of geometry. The new circle was banished before the pit was dug.
Rich, dark, excavated soil was mixed with water and used to mud in flat stones from a quarry in central Florida. The mud was playfully lavished on every surface, including exposed skin: a fitting tribute to earth and water, and a useful deterrent against spring insects.
When excess mud and debris were wiped from the freshly laid stones, the three devotees set the first fire. It was an adoring and focused “soft opening.”
During the initiation rite a week later, our new Dhuni began to show its own flavor. The fire danced more actively, the coals glowed hotter, and energies expanded during Bhairava and Bhairavi mantras, even as the flames diminished.
Though no name was actually spoken in the ethers, this activity was noticed and marked by Sri Vijayanath and several others. Through the more fully attended rituals of the Mela, this pattern persisted.
The week closed as these weeks do. The rite was drawn down, the goodbyes were said, and the participants left in separate cars. Kumarika remains on the land. What was aligned there does not require the circle to stay seated in order to continue — Onward!
Om Shanti.
With gratitude and blessings,
Sri Vijayanath